Ballet Hispánico, celebrating over 45 years of bringing individuals and communities together to celebrate and explore Latino cultures, announces the continuation of its new conversation series, Diálogos at the Arnhold Center, which explores the connections between the arts, social justice, and Latino culture.

The next installment of the Diálogos series, Flamenco: Finding Voice Through Fusion, will be held at Ballet Hispánico at the Arnhold Center, 167 W. 89th Street, NYC on October 6, 2016 at 6:30pm. Admission is free, and advance reservations are requested at www.ballethispanico.org/dialogos.

With roots that derive from Arabic to African, Indian, and Spanish influences, flamenco dance and its unique interplay of music, dance, and song have captivated audiences across continents for generations. This panel will unpack the cross-cultural influences that have established flamenco as a form, while exploring how its folkloric roots have been recast in contemporary ways. Belgo-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who has set two flamenco-inspired works on the Ballet Hispánico Company, joins acclaimed flamenco masters Liliana Morales and Nelida Tirado to discuss the impact of this magnetic dance form on their identities. The event will include an exclusive sneak preview of Lopez Ochoa’s new work for Ballet Hispánico, Línea Recta, which will premiere on November 18 & 19 at The Apollo Theater.

ANNABELLE LOPEZ OCHOA is a sought-after Belgo-Colombian choreographer that since 2003 has created works for more than 40 companies around the world such as Scapino Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, Geneva Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Gothenburg Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, BalletX, BJM-Danse Montreal, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Ballet National de Marseille, Saarbrucken Ballet, Jacoby & Pronk, Chemnitzer Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, Morphoses Wheeldon Company, Whim W’Him, IncolBallet de Colombia, Finnish National Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza Madrid, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Scottish Ballet, The Washington Ballet, Ballet Nacional Dominicano, Ballet Saarbrucken, Augsburg Ballet, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Moscow, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, West Australian Ballet, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Ballet Nacional Chileno, Ballet Staatstheater am Gartnerplatz Munchen, Ballet Manila, Daniil Simkin Intensio Project, Cincinnati Ballet, Silicon Valley Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, English National Ballet and New York City Ballet. In the fall of 2007 she was selected to participate with the prestigious New York Choreographic Institute. Dance Magazine named her work Cylindrical Shadows, performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet, as one of the highlights of 2012. Her full-length narrative ballet A Streetcar Named Desire has been awarded with ‘Best Classical Choreography’ by the Circle of Critics of the National Dance Award UK, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards for “Best New Production” and has been nominated for an Olivier Award 2012.

LILIANA MORALES, a native New Yorker, started dancing at the age of 5 studying ballet and Classical Spanish Dance. She also trained in tap, jazz, and EscuelaBolera. By the time she was 8, she was performing small roles in New York opera companies. Not surprisingly, her first role was in Carmen with the Amato Opera Company. In August 1969, Liliana headed to Madrid, where she began studying with Jose Granero, a choreographer with the Jose Greco Dance Company. She returned to New York, but when Morales returned to Spain in 1971, she quickly plunged herself into Spanish dance culture. For the next five years, she built a reputation in Madrid’s famous tablaos, including Café De Chinitas, Torres Bermejas, Los Cabales and other celebrated Flamenco venues. In 1978 she received her B.A. in dance from Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri. Most recently she was featured in the '100 YEARS OF FLAMENCO IN N.Y." exhibition at Lincoln Center. Ms. Morales is a Spanish & Flamenco Dance faculty member at the Ballet Hispánico School of Dance.

Hailed as “magnificent” (NY Times), NELIDA TIRADO began her formal training at Ballet Hispanico of New York at the age of six. Barely out of her teens, she was invited to tour the U.S. with Jose Molina Bailes Espanoles and work as a soloist in Carlota Santana’s Flamenco Vivo, soloist/ dance captain of Compania Maria Pages and Compania Antonio El Pipa, performing at prestigious flamenco festivals and television in Spain and throughout France, Italy, UK, Germany and Japan. She has performed in “Carmen” with the Metropolitan Opera of NY, World Music Institute’s “Gypsy Caravan 1 ”, “Noche Flamenca” and was featured flamenco star in Riverdance” on Broadway. Ms. Tirado currently was recipient of the 2007 and 2010 BRIO Award for Artistic Excellence, was featured as one of Dance Magazines "25 to Watch" and opened with her company Summer 2010 for Buena Vista Social Club featuring Omara Portoundo for the Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival. Most recent highlights include “Amores Quebrados” at the Repertorio Espanol, “Dance Under the Influence” 2011 & 2012 in collaboration with the Flamenco Festival USA and collaboration with jazz great Wynton Marsalis at Harvard University and the 2016 premiere of her solo show "Dime Quien Soy" in the Flamenco Festival NY. She is currently the recipient of the 2017 Rosario Dawson Muse Fellow.

Ballet Hispánico at the Arnhold Center

Ballet Hispánico’s home is an interdisciplinary cultural and community resource made possible by Honorary Chair Jody Gottfried Arnhold and the Arnhold family. Through panels, forums, exhibitions and other public programming, the Arnhold Center will further an awareness of Latino art forms as a tool for social and cultural acceptance and as a powerful agent for dialogue about race, equity and access.

ABOUT BALLET HISPÁNICO

Celebrating over four decades of sharing and reflecting the ever-changing diversity of Latino cultures, Ballet Hispánico is the new expression of American contemporary dance. Led by Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro, the Company has produced world-class, multifaceted performances that have featured master works by Nacho Duato, cutting-edge premieres by Cayetano Soto and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and live music collaborations with renowned artists such as Paquito D’Rivera and Ruben Blades—to name a notable few. Ballet Hispánico has performed for audiences totaling over 3 million, throughout 11 countries, and on 3 continents. Through the work of its professional company, school of dance, and community arts education programs, Ballet Hispánico celebrates the dynamic aesthetics of the Hispanic diaspora, building new avenues of cultural dialogue and sharing the joy of dance with all communities. For more information, visit www.ballethispanico.org. Follow Ballet Hispánico on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.